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The White Man
The White Man (ω:ŋ:ƴ ~ɳ) – not to be confused with a racial category – was a concept of existential ascendancy fundamental to Lobardian philosophy. Following the death of Lobard, the House of Man (the prime scholarly institution of Ereithaler) undersaw hefty debating on the details of The Statuary Ideal, the nature of the Common, and the nature of a more or less ill-defined concept, the Lobardian White Man. The only person to ever having been considered White is Aelona, although some Commonarchic scholars debate the degree of Lobard's personal Whiteness. Details The White Man was often referred to in musings on theology inside The Statuary Ideal, which is the first commonarchic lawbook and a foundation for all political philosophy during the Commonarchy. But The White Man was not identified with any particular religion or morality. While it seemingly borrows heavily from Maninist cosmologies of light and darkness, it is widely articulated as good virtue in general, appreciation of knowledge in general, understanding of all gods and their peoples and sensibility within all arts. Actual examples of whatever these virtues would encompass remain unmentioned. Most of the concepts have accordingly been assumed to be the concepts of knowledge, joy and coherence noted in the chapters on the Common and the structure of the coherent Statuary, but it is often counternoted by more puritan religious interests, especially orthodox Maninists, as there exists no formal connection within the book. Whiteness in Music The only true extrapolation of The White Man, however, existed in chapters on the arts and that they encompassed some sort of enlightenment within. Lobard was intrigued by Iralliam prayer, as it spread northwards with Iralliam musicians and artisans following the collapse of the Holy Moti Empire. While Iralliam chants usually utilized suddenly improvised bursts, intentional dissonant sections and purely vocal arrangements, traditional Stetin chants had a Maninist ideal of harmony-as-salvation, incorporating bright, long-winded choral drones, slow build-ups, and instrumentation with a type of woodwhistles called renern (υ:ƴ¿ƴ). Famously, Lobard befriended Votivedstra, a priest of the Kotthorns who had encompanied one of these assemblies. As disengaged as the previous Court was, it had long been a tradition to have the court assembly’s keynote speaker be presented by a renern fanfare. Through the restructuring of the Court, Lobard arranged it so that the fanfare was lengthened, arranged and vocalized. The musical introduction of the Court was ordained to be a ritual silence where the Commonarchy’s nobles would remain seated, contemplating the immensed power of the nation, moved by the music. For the music did sound massive. The royal palace’s entry hall was expanded to increase the pure size of the arrangement and allow for massive reverbration to echo the size of the music. These new session songs were usually fifteen minutes long, carrying a chorus and a large band of renern players, playing both Iralliam quarter tone chorus and the long dronologic harmonies of traditional Stetin music. After the music had been played, the ritual was over and the nobles would enter the court. Lobard often refered to music in describing The White Man, as he thought music could enlighten in sheer magnitude of sound and that pure knowledge was expressed in these massive ensembles. Of course, initially the styles of songs played through the Common entry varied greatly in style. What fundamentally defined the style of the massive chorus was the piece Torun totun nes (‘Shall not die’ – ɳ،υ،ƴ ɳ،ɳ،ƴ ƴ:ȷ) that was played as a fanfare before Lobard announced that Brunn was to be invaded. Salkaresta, who composed it (and also sang petin ethed (s:ɳ.ƴ :ŋ:ɲ) in its first section), became the first in a long range of musicians of Hiuthi descent that would compose for the Ereithaler upper class. The piece became hugely influential simply for being the chant of the war, being the embodiment of Ereithaler power and victory. As such Ereithaler philosophy, regardless of its specific discourses and stances, thought of it as a premise for Lobardian wisdom. It was played not only by nobles in court, but also served to become a communal song for both Maninists and Aelonists in Ereithaler. Listen to Torun Totun Nes here. Category:Stetin Category:Political Philosophy